Form support bracket

ABSTRACT

A support bracket for applying and maintaining a force and simultaneously permitting lateral movement of a movable object supported by the bracket. The bracket includes a supporting and securing means for maintaining the bracket stationary and a power transmitting bolt having Acme threads. At the working end of the bolt is positioned a roller means fitting into a suitable socket in the bolt. At the opposite end of the bolt a square shank is provided to permit the bolt to be advanced or retracted into position to apply and maintain the force. A retaining means and lubrication for the ball is provided.

United States Patent [191 Cox 1 I James R. Cox, Largo, Fla.

[52] US. Cl. 248/288, 249/219 R [51] Int. Cl..... A471 5/10, A47h 33/00,E04g 17/16 [58] Field of Search 248/288, 221, 235, 248/243; 254/98, 100;249/219, 192

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,504,879 4/l970 Strickland249/219 R X 2,733,330 1/l956 Blewett 254/100 X 2,201,680 5/1940 Haynes287/87 X 855,255 5/1907 Loeschner 254/100 X 2,490,046 12/1949 Genier eta1. 254/100 Dec. 18, 1973 Latzen 287/87 Huggins 248/221 X [57] ABSTRACTA support bracket for applying and maintaining a force andsimultaneously permitting lateral movement of a movable object supportedby the bracket. The bracket includes a supporting and securing means formaintaining the bracket stationary and a power transmitting bolt havingAcme threads. At the working end of the bolt is positioned a rollermeans fitting into a suitable socket in the bolt. At the opposite end ofthe bolt a square shank is provided to permit the bolt to be advanced orretracted into position to apply and maintain the force. A retainingmeans and lubrication for the ball is provided.

12 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PMENTEBUEC 1 1; mm 3,779,500

szazzr 1c? 2 ilg-s INVENTOR JAMES E. Cox

I 6 T E QsmA i'M s ATTORNEYS PATENTEDOEC 1 a 1915 3,779,500

INVENTOR JAMES R.C'o$

C ATTORNEYQ FORM SUPPORT BRACKET BACKGROUND OF THE lNYENTION In theconstruction industry, for instance, there has been a need for means ofsupporting; the structural forms for pouring concrete slabs. Inthe past,vertical columns either of concrete orsteel have been .used to supportthe forms which would holdxthe concrete while curing to form the slabsthat produce the. floors; and ceilings ofvarious structures. Theseforms. mustbe positioned accurately along the height of the stationarycolumns to maintain a proper level. Accurate measurements for buildingsuch forms are necessary under any circumstances, but, after suchmeasurements have been. taken and the slab form constructed, it is oftenfound that adjustments inthe height of the concrete form are requirednecessitating partial rebuilding or other adjustments to the height ofthe slab form.

One attempt to-solve this problem was a screw bolt adjustable in heightand. secured to the side of a vertical column. The. screw bolt had aflat head. andwas adjusted vertically against the beam beneath the formto position the slab form properly. Relative movement between the slabform beam and the flat supporting screw head wasexceedingly difficultdue tothe-high: friction between: the screw head andithe beam. Slightchanges in lateral position of the beam were generally-not feasible orif attempted when the screw was in contact with. the beam supporting theslab form, the screw would be deformed in the direction. of the forceapplied to the beam. in one particularprior-art approach a ball bearingwas provided. separately from. andbelowthe screw. This necessitated acomplete lowering of the screw and the beam supporting the slab form,inorder for the beam to contact the ball bearing and permit the slabform to be moved laterally any significant distance. This is anundesirable feature since it necessitates a complete lowering of eachscrew it theinitial positioning of the be am is not correct whenadjustedby the bolt to the height desired. Also when the concrete hascured and the form is to bev lowered and. removed,each screw must bedroppedbelow the top oi the ball bearing with a consequent loss. in timeand effort.

Numerous other approaches-- have been used by'the art insan efforttosupportslab forms, however, eachof these approaches lack one or moreof the essential or desirable features for holding and maintaining aforce applied to the beam while-simultaneously being able to movethebeam laterally of the support to adjust it to its proper position.

OBJECTS or THE INVENTION It is. an object. of the present. inventiontherefore to provide a support bracket which will maintain and apply aforce to a movable object such as a slab form beam-and permit lateraladjustments in direction of the object the provision of a bracket to bemounted stationary and which can be advanced by power transmitting 1bolt to apply a force against a movable object and simultaneously whilethe force is being applied to the movable object, it is possible tolaterally. adjust the position of the object by means of a ball bearingpositioned at the top working end of the bolt forming a part of thebracket.

This invention also includes as an object the provision of a ballbearing positioned within a socket located at the working end of thebolt having Acme external screw threads and which can be adjusted whilebeing held securely within a stationary bracket.

\ It is also an object of the present invention to provide a ballbearing or other roller means at the working end of an Acme bolt securedto a stationary bracket which is substantially maintenance free andsimple to operate.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a stationarybracket which may be utilized to position heavy. machinery or the likealong a substantially horizontal direction. 5

These and other objects of the present invention may be apparent from aperusal of the following specification claims and accompanying drawing.

in the Drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view partly in section of a slab form supportedon a beam that is held in proper vertical position between stationarycolumns by means of the support bracket of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view partly in section of an enlarged portion.of the concrete column slab form and the beam all supported by the novelsupport bracket of the present invention.

FIG. 3. is a perspective view partly broken away of the support bracketof the present invention being mounted stationary on to the verticalsideof the concrete column and illustrating the ball bearing at the workingend of the bolt.

FIG. 4' is a cross-sectional view partly broken away taken along lines4-4 of FlG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged" and exploded perspective view of the fragment ofthe bolt with the socket arrangement andone embodiment of a pin forretaining the ball within the socket.

FIG. 6. is an enlarged. exploded perspective view of fragment of theball bearing positioned within the socket formed at the end of the screwbolt, the ball bearing being retained by means of an O-ring constitutinganother embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a verticalcross-sectional view of the embodiment of FIG. 6illustrating the position of the O- ring retaining the ball bearingwithin socket.

FIG. 8 is an alternate embodiment of the use of the present inventionillustrating the support bracket as being used to position a'movablemember such as a machinery base or column in a substantially horizontaldirecti'on.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As is best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 atypical slabform F containing the conventional mortar M is supported by beamsBbetween conventional columns C which may be either concrete or steel orother support capacolumn C. The support bracket is composed primarily ofa base 12 to which is secured as by welding a transverse plate 14forming an L-shape with the basel2. Reenforcing angle plates 16 may be.provided to strengthen the support bracket and to distribute to thetransverse plate 14 the forces acting upon the base 12. Securing means18 may be in the form of studs or stud bolts as best shown in FIG. 4 andare received through suitable openings 20 in the transverse plate 14 topass into the column C for supporting the bracket in a stationaryposition on the column.

It is best shown in FIG. 4 the base 12 is provided with a hole 22 toreceive bolt 24. Surrounding the hole 22 are internal screw threads 26which may be formed within nut 28 welded or otherwise secured to thebase 12. The internal screw threads 26 may also be provided within thehole 22. The nut 28 may be positioned above or below the base 12 butpreferably is as shown in FIG. 4, as an enlargement in base 12.

The bolt 24 is received in the hole 22 and being provided with externalscrew threads 30 which are complementary to the internal screw threads26 may be advanced or retracted by rotation of the bolt 24. The bolt isconveniently provided with a square end shank 32 permitting easyrotation of the bolt 24.

It is preferable that the screw threads as shown are of the powertransmission screw thread type. Generally, an Acme thread meets thisrequirement and can include the general purpose thread, the 29 stubthread, the 60 stub thread or the modified square thread as well as asquare thread. For convenience, the threads will be referred to as Acmethreads. Other types of screw threads such as the Unified or theAmerican Screw thread are found to be considerably less desirable thanthe Acme threads for effectively transmitting the high forces required.

At the working end 34 of the bolt 24 there is provided a socket 36 forreceiving a roller 38 which may be in the form of a ball bearing asshown. The socket 36 may contain suitable lubricant which maypermanently lubricate the ball bearing 38. Suitable lubricants are wellknown and may, for instance, include the silicone type lubricants orother equivalent highly anti,- friction agents. The ball bearing 38 maybe retained within the socket 36 by the means shown in FIGS. 5-7.

In FIG. 5, the ball bearing is held in place by a soft metal retainerpin 42 which passes through a suitable opening 44 in the side wall ofthe socket 36. As shown in FIG. 4 the position of the retaining pin 42is above the center line of the ball 38 in order to retain the ballwithin the socket as the retaining pin extends beyond the inner edge ofthe socket 36 and over the surface of the ball 38.

The internal surface of the socket 36 may beprovided with annular groove46 into which is positioned an O-ring 48. As shown in FIG. 7 thisembodiment retains the ball in position and as the ball rotates it islubricated by the resevoir of lubricant 40 in the bottom of the socket.Since the weights that are contemplated to be held by the supportbracket are quite high, the bolt should be of the type of highcompressive strength such as molybdenum steel or the equivalent and theball bearings of conventional load bearing quality. The

retainer pin 42 may then be of a softer metal and has been found to besatisfactory when formed of bronze.

In use, the support bracket of the present invention may be secured bybolts 18 on to the column C. The slab form F accompanying beam Bsupported by external means (not'shown) may be moved laterally intogeneral position in direction of either of the arrows shown in FIG. 1 torest upon the ball bearing. The external supporting means may then beremoved and each of the bolts 24 may be advanced by means of the squareshank 32 to raise or hold the beam, and therefore the slab form F, inthe desired position. There may be any number of these supportbracketssupporting the slab form F and each of these bolts must be advanced toproperly position the slab form. At any position when the brackets haveexerted the full support for the slab form, the slab form F may be movedlaterally on the roller to obtain the most accurate final position.

After the concrete M has been laid in the form and cured, the slab formmay be lowered by retracting each of the supporting bolts and theexternal supporting means for the slab form may slide the slab form outfor reuse by means of the beam sliding and rolling over the ballbearings 38. The support brackets may then be removed from column C bylowering the nut on studs 18 and also reused.

In FIG. 8, there is shown an alternative embodiment-the use of supportbrackets for positioning a heavy object H which may be a movable columnor leg of machinery or the like and to be positioned upon a platform P.Each of the support brackets are mounted in a similar fashion by bolts18 and the bolts 24 are advanced or retracted as required to obtain theexact position of the object H on the platform P.

It can be seen from the foregoing that the objects of the presentinvention have been achieved in that the support bracket with the ballbearing at the working end 'of the screwbolt may apply and maintainforce while simultaneously permitting sliding or lateral movement of theobject relative to the axis of the bolt containing the ball bearings.

I claim:

1. A support bracket for supporting a movable concrete form comprising:a base, mounting means connected to said base for the stationarymounting of said bracket, a bolt hole in said base, internal screwthread means positioned around said hole, a screw bolt received withinsaid hold and having complementary external screw thread means formovement through said hole, means for rotating said bolt positioned onsaid bolt, a ball socket formed in the working end of said bolt, a ballbearing positioned for rotation within said socket, whereby said bolt isadapted to be advanced to apply and maintain a force 'through said ballbearing against said form and simultaneously be capable of permittingrelative movement of said form to said bracket substantially transverseto the longitudinal axis of said bolt.

2. The support bracket of claim 1 wherein said screw thread means areAcme threads.

3. The support" bracket of claim 1 including said internal screw threadmeans being in an enlargement in said base and surrounding said hole.

4. The support bracket of claim 1 including said mountin'grneans being atransverse plate integral with said basefsecuring means within saidplate for mounting said bracket to a stationary support.

5. The support bracket of claim 1 including the shank of said bolt atthe end opposite the working end, being provided with said means forrotating said bolt.

6. The support bracket of claim 1 including said ball socket containinga lubricant.

7. The support bracket of claim 1 including an O-ring positionedadjacent the mouth of said socket to retain said ball bearing withinsaid socket.

8. The support bracket of claim 1 including a pin positioned into saidsocket through a wall of said socket for retaining said ball bearing insaid socket.

9. The support bracket of claim 1 including said screw thread meansbeing Acme threads and said mounting means being a transverse plateintegral with said base, securing means within said plate for mountingsaid bracket to a stationary support.

10. The support bracket of claim 1 including said screw thread meanshaving Acme threads, said mounting means being a transverseplate'integral with said base, securing means within said plate formounting said'bracket to a stationary support and an O-ring positionedadjacent the mouth of said socket to retain said ball bearing withinsaid socket.

11. The support bracket of claim 1 including said screw thread meansbeing Acme threads, said internal screw thread'means including anenlargement in said base and surrounding said hole, said mounting meansbeing a transverse plate integral with said base, securing means withinsaid plate for mounting said bracket to a stationary support, and anO-ring positioned adjacent the mouth of said socket to retain said ballbearing within said socket.

12. The support bracket of claim 1 including a support bracketcomprising: a base, mounting means connected to said base for thestationary mounting of said bracket, a bolt hole in said base, saidscrew thread means beingAcme threads, said internal screw thread meansbeing a nut secured to said base and surrounding said hole, saidmounting means being a transverse plate integral with said base,securing means within said plate for mounting said bracket to astationary support, and the shank of said bolt at the end opposite theworking end, being provided with said means for rotating said bolt, saidball socket containing a lubricant, and an O- ring positioned adjacentthe mouth of said socket to retain said ball hearing within said socket.

1. A support bracket for supporting a movable concrete form comprising: a base, mounting means connected to said base for the stationary mounting of said bracket, a bolt hole in said base, internal screw thread means positioned around said hole, a screw bolt received within said hold and having complementary external screw thread means for movement through said hole, means for rotating said bolt positioned on said bolt, a ball socket formed in the working end of said bolt, a ball bearing positioned for rotation within said socket, whereby said bolt is adapted to be advanced to apply and maintain a force through said ball bearing against said form and simultaneously be capable of permitting relative movement of said form to said bracket substantially transverse to the longitudinal axis of said bolt.
 2. The support bracket of claim 1 wherein said screw thread means are Acme threads.
 3. The support bracket of claim 1 including said internal screw thread means being in an enlargement in said base and surrounding said hole.
 4. The support bracket of claim 1 including said mounting means being a transverse plate integral with said base, securing means within said plate for mounting said bracket to a stationary support.
 5. The support bracket of claim 1 including the shank of said bolt at the end opposite the working end, being provided with said means for rotating said bolt.
 6. The support bracket of claim 1 including said ball socket containing a lubricant.
 7. The support bracket of claim 1 including an O-ring positioned adjacent the mouth of said socket to retain said ball bearing within said socket.
 8. The support bracket of claim 1 including a pin positioned into said socket through a wall of said socket for retaining said ball bearing in said socket.
 9. The support bracket of claim 1 including said screw thread means being Acme threads and said mounting means being a transverse plate integral with said base, securing means within said plate for mounting said bracket to a stationary support.
 10. The support bracket of claim 1 including said screw thread means having Acme threads, said mounting means being a transverse plate integral with said base, securing means within said plate for mounting said bracket to a stationary support and an O-ring positioned adjacent the mouth of said socket to retain said ball bearing within said socket.
 11. The support bracket of claim 1 including said screw thread means being Acme threads, said internal screw thread means including an enlargement in said base and surrounding said hole, said mounting means being a transVerse plate integral with said base, securing means within said plate for mounting said bracket to a stationary support, and an O-ring positioned adjacent the mouth of said socket to retain said ball bearing within said socket.
 12. The support bracket of claim 1 including a support bracket comprising: a base, mounting means connected to said base for the stationary mounting of said bracket, a bolt hole in said base, said screw thread means being Acme threads, said internal screw thread means being a nut secured to said base and surrounding said hole, said mounting means being a transverse plate integral with said base, securing means within said plate for mounting said bracket to a stationary support, and the shank of said bolt at the end opposite the working end, being provided with said means for rotating said bolt, said ball socket containing a lubricant, and an O-ring positioned adjacent the mouth of said socket to retain said ball bearing within said socket. 